Parents group urges Trump to ditch ‘unconstitutional’ Biden-era discipline memo

Parents Defending Education (PDE), a grassroots parental rights advocacy group, is calling on the Trump administration to reverse what they deem as “unconstitutional” Biden-era policies that penalize schools for racial disparities in discipline. The group is specifically targeting a Dear Colleague letter issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Education (DOE) in 2023.

According to PDE, the Biden-era document pressures schools to implement “racially discriminatory discipline policies” or risk losing federal funding. The group argues that this approach goes against clear Supreme Court precedent, which states that disparate impact alone cannot support a Title VI violation.

In a letter addressed to Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon, PDE expressed their concerns about the implications of the School Discipline Letter, which they believe unfairly targets schools for racial disparities in discipline outcomes. The group highlighted that the letter threatens school districts with the loss of federal funds if they do not adjust their procedures to eliminate such disparities.

The DOJ and the DOE released the guide in 2023 to help schools address racial discrimination in K-12 student discipline. The agencies emphasized the importance of protecting students from discriminatory discipline practices, including suspensions, expulsions, law enforcement referrals, and school-based arrests.

PDE spokesperson Erika Sanzi criticized the previous administration for instructing schools to adopt racially discriminatory discipline policies and then threatening them with funding cuts if they did not comply. Sanzi emphasized the need for school policies to be race-neutral and called for the rescinding of the Dear Colleague letter.

Under the Trump administration, education policy has taken a different direction from the Biden administration. The DOE has reversed many of the previous administration’s “woke” and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. The department has also launched an investigation into 60 universities following allegations of antisemitism and violence against Jewish students in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Justice and the Department of Education for comment on the matter.